Former President Donald Trump's rally in Selma on Saturday is expected to be significant for both the state and national Republican Party.
The rally comes about five weeks before North Carolina’s primary elections, and Trump has thrown his support behind candidates in some key Republican races, including a closely-watched U.S. Senate race, where he endorsed current U.S. Rep. Ted Budd.
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The value of a Trump endorsement will be tested in the upcoming primary election, as will his influence over conservative politics in North Carolina. Losses by Trump-backed candidates could weaken the former president’s influence in future election cycles.
Opposition from a group of Johnston County GOP voters against a Trump-backed congressional candidate, Bo Hines, could highlight a distancing between longtime Republicans and emerging hardline figures in the party.
"[Trump] wants to say, 'Look, I have endorsed the winners. And so if you stand with me, I will endorse you down the road,'" said David McLennan, a political science professor at Meredith College. "It's very important for President Trump to pick people in North Carolina. If Republicans do well in North Carolina, they could eventually take back both chambers of Congress.”
The seat up for grabs has been held U.S. Sen. Richard Burr since 2005.
Trump announced his endorsement for Budd last summer after his daughter-in-law Lara Trump declined to enter the state's Senate race.
"I am giving him my complete and total endorsement. We're going to work with him, campaign with him. You can't pick people that have already lost two races and do not stand for our values," Trump said during his endorsement, taking a dig at former governor Pat McCrory who is running against Budd.
McCrory has said he supports many of Trump’s policies and believes he can appeal to Trump supporters as well.
"There are a lot of people that I know have lost two elections," McCrory said Friday in an interview with WRAL News. "Ronald Reagan ... lost several elections. In fact, most of the people who have been elected, if there's anybody who's taken any risk, they've probably lost elections because they cared more about their beliefs than just getting elected. And I'm proud of my accomplishments as a mayor and governor."
Spokespeople for Trump didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Polls this week show that Budd overtook McCrory to capture a double-digit lead.
McLennan thinks the former president's visit will fuel enthusiasm among voters for the midterm elections.
"He may or may not be drawing the crowds he did when he was running for president in 2016 or 2020, but he still can turn out a crowd," McLennan said. "It's also significant for former President Trump who wants to continue to be relevant as he looks down the road to 2024.”
Other candidates being endorsed in the upcoming elections will also be at the rally, including U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn and Hines, a political newcomer who is running in an eight-way primary for North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District, which includes Johnston County. Some Johnston County Republicans are running ads against Hines because he currently doesn't live in the district.
Senate GOP frontrunner Ted Budd also features Trump's endorsement in his ads.
On Friday, North Carolina Democratic Party Vice Chairman Floyd McKissick slammed Republicans for seeking Trump's approval after after he called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "genius."
Invoking the Jan. 6 insurrection, McKissick said voters should be wary of Trump's picks.
"Trump's here to make sure that his candidates win. But unfortunately, I'm when his candidates win, they may be more blindly loyal to Trump, may be more blindly loyal to that Republican agenda that we've talked about and not necessarily those that would uphold the Constitution of the United States if we had another crisis," said McKissick.
Former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, who's running against Bud, accused him of being on the wrong side of history on Jan. 6.
"It's very embarrassing that Ted Budd and Madison Cawthorn are going to be on the stage at the same time because they're both have been an embarrassment to our state, to our nation and to my party," said McCrory.
The Trump rally will be held at a wedding venue called "The Farm at 95" at 7 p.m. Trump rallied at the same venue in Selma six years ago when he first began his campaign for president.
WRAL State Government Reporter Bryan Anderson contributed to this report.